He had to become strong enough within this interval—strong enough to face the true “strangling” that would come from the source of darkness.
Lu Xuan closed his eyes once more. The Dao rhythm around him fused completely with the Chaos Bell, and he sank into an even deeper level of enlightenment.
The ancient Fusang tree swayed for him, scattering endless solar essence. The laws of the entire Golden Crow clan grounds pulsed in time with his breathing.
The focus of all the heavens had already converged upon him alone.
The storms of the future would also arise because of him, and be decided because of him.
The river of time surged on without rest. In the blink of an eye, millions of years drifted by.
After that three-sided war that shook all the heavens came to an end, after Lu Xuan sealed the Primordial Gate with supreme divine abilities and forced back the foreign realm and the dark giants, the Immortal Realm, the Primordial Ancient Realm, and their alliance actually ushered in an unimaginably long period of peace.
The foreign realm and the dark beings on the far side of the Boundary Sea did not immediately launch the destructive retaliation everyone had expected.
They were like wounded beasts lurking in the shadows, licking their wounds and accumulating an even deeper, more terrifying hatred.
Only the occasional scattered clashes and probes from the depths of the Boundary Sea reminded the world that beneath the facade of peace, undercurrents still surged violently.
During these rare years of tranquility, thanks to Lu Xuan’s presence, the alliance’s sharing of resources, and the complete inheritances from the Primordial World, the strength of every faction steadily increased.
And among them, the one that developed the most rapidly was undoubtedly the Golden Crow clan of the Immortal Realm.
The Immortal Realm, deep within the Sun Star, the ancestral land of the Golden Crows.
The Fusang ancient tree of today had long since ceased to resemble its former withered state.
Its trunk was thick and massive as a mountain range, its branches blotted out the sky and covered the sun, and every leaf seemed to be condensed from pure solar fire essence, burning with an inextinguishable golden Dao flame.
Solar essence so dense it had nearly become tangible transformed into golden spiritual rain, constantly nourishing this clan land.
Within the clan grounds, palaces stood grand and majestic, presenting a myriad of splendid sights.
The younger Golden Crow descendants transformed into streaks of golden rainbow light, weaving among the branches and leaves of the ancient tree as they practiced. Their cries were clear and melodious, and powerful True Solar Fire coiled around them; among them were no lack of auras at the True Immortal level, or even approaching the Immortal King realm.
However, beneath this flourishing prosperity, an indescribable trace of anxiety
was spreading among the upper echelons of the Golden Crow clan, especially within the hearts of those most dazzling prodigies.
“Buzzz—”
A powerful aura shot into the sky from the ancient solar cave deep within the ancestral land, drawing ten thousand Daos into resonance as the Sun Star trembled in response.
Another dazzling “great sun” rose from within the cave, its radiance stretching ten thousand zhang, laws circling around it. Its pressure had astonishingly reached the absolute peak of the quasi-Immortal King level!
“It’s Elder Brother Lu Yu! He has emerged from seclusion!”
“Heavens, that aura… it seems even more refined than Elder Brother Lu Yan’s when he broke through a hundred years ago!”
“This is our clan’s seventh quasi-Immortal King, isn’t it? Too astonishing!”
Within the clan grounds, countless Golden Crow clansmen raised their heads, their gazes blazing as they looked at the descending figure—Lu Yu, one of the most outstanding prodigies of the current generation of the Golden Crow clan.
After three hundred thousand years, he had finally stepped into the quasi-Immortal King domain, and his foundation was stable, his bearing extraordinary.
Lu Yu transformed into human form. He was a handsome young man with a sharp air between his brows.
He sensed the surging quasi-Immortal King power within his body, yet there was not much joy in his eyes. Instead, a trace of heaviness flashed through them.
With a flicker of his figure, he appeared on the central square of the ancestral land.
There, six figures had already been waiting. Their auras were either blazing like the sun, deep and still like an abyss, or nimble like the wind, but without exception, all of them emitted powerful quasi-Immortal King fluctuations.
These six were the other six quasi-Immortal Kings born in the Golden Crow clan over the past millions of years!
They were the future hopes that the clan had poured endless resources into nurturing with all its might.
“Congratulations, Brother Lu Yu. You have taken another step forward on the Great Dao.” The leading quasi-Immortal King was named Lu Huang, the first among them to break through to the quasi-Immortal King level, and his aura was the most unfathomable.
Lu Yu cupped his hands in return. His gaze swept over his elder brothers and sisters, and he gave a bitter smile. “Congratulations? The seven of us are all quasi-Immortal Kings. On the surface, our glory seems boundless and the clan is at its peak… but that heavenly chasm remains as distant as ever.”
As soon as these words were spoken, the atmosphere on the square instantly froze.
Indeed. Seven quasi-Immortal Kings!
With such a foundation, looking across the current Immortal Realm, aside from the Golden Crow clan with Lu Xuan presiding over it and a few factions with equally deep foundations such as the Pan King’s family, who else could compare? It was enough to make any faction burn with envy.
And yet, the Immortal King realm!
That barrier was like an invisible shackle, tightly imprisoning them.
For millions of years, prodigies had emerged one after another from the Golden Crow clan, and there had been no lack of peerless talents. They had accumulated seven quasi-Immortal Kings, yet not a single one had truly ignited the Dao flame of nirvana, crossed that final step, and attained the true Immortal King fruit.
“Our accumulations have long been sufficient, and we dare say our comprehension of the Solar Great Dao is not shallow. We have even observed the imprint of Chaos opening the heavens that His Majesty left behind…”
A female quasi-Immortal King sighed softly. Her name was Lu Xuan, and her temperament was cool and aloof.
“But every time we attempt to break through to the King realm, we always feel as though there is an invisible barrier in the unseen, indestructible and unshakable, as if… as if this heaven and earth no longer permit a new Golden Crow Immortal King to be born.”
“It is not that heaven and earth do not permit it.” An aged yet dignified voice rang out.
The old Golden Crow King walked over with a cane. He looked at the seven most outstanding descendants of the clan before him, and in his eyes there was both gratification and an even deeper worry.
“It is karma. It is fortune. Perhaps… it is also a kind of ‘Dao obstruction.’”
The old Golden Crow King said slowly, “His Majesty… is too powerful.”
He raised his head and looked toward the palace shrouded in chaotic energy at the very top of the Fusang ancient tree. That was where Lu Xuan was in seclusion.
“His Majesty suppresses all the heavens with the Chaos Bell. His Dao and his laws have already surpassed ordinary Immortal Kings and touched upon a level we can scarcely understand. He alone has almost borne all the fate and Great Dao brilliance of the Golden Crow clan in this era. You grew up beneath the shelter of his radiance, but imperceptibly, you have also lived beneath the shadow of his ‘Dao.’”
“To break through to the King realm requires not only the accumulation of power, but also the need to walk one’s own ‘Dao.’ A path… that will not be completely covered by His Majesty’s Great Dao; a brand-new road that can open another way beyond chaos and the sun, and earn the recognition of the laws of heaven and earth. This is a hundred times more difficult than any Golden Crow becoming a King in any era of ancient history.”
The seven quasi-Immortal Kings fell silent.
How could they not understand this truth?
Lu Xuan’s existence was the clan’s greatest shelter, and also a towering mountain standing across their path of the Dao—one they could not bypass, yet revered beyond measure.
Imitate his Dao of Chaos?
No one possessed a supreme treasure like the Chaos Bell.
Follow the traditional Dao of the Sun?
Lu Xuan had already pushed the solar origin to an unprecedented extreme, and those who came after could scarcely surpass him.
They seemed to have fallen into a glorious predicament.
Lu Huang’s gaze was firm as he spoke.
“No matter what, we must walk our own paths. His Majesty once said that chaos can evolve ten thousand laws, and the sun is not limited to blazing heat. The Daos the seven of us have comprehended are all different. It may not be impossible for us to carve out a path.”
“That’s right,” Lu Yu said as his fighting spirit reignited as well.
“Even if no new Immortal King appears, the seven of us joining hands and laying down the complete ‘Ten-Sun Golden Crow Grand Formation’ will be enough to shake an ordinary Immortal King! The clan’s future may not necessarily have to rely on His Majesty alone!”